Why does a player play?
‘Cause we gotta.
Do you ever listen to songs on the radio and think “Wow, those words are perfect. How did that songwriter figure out that wonderful combination of words, with a great rhythm and delicious sound? And suited my mood exactly?”
Well, I do…all the time!
My point is, I see words brought together in a very magical way; in well-written articles, in books by my favorite authors, in prose, in song and even from amazing presenters. Words woven together to create imagery and inspiration take a special talent–one I aspire to achieve and hope my readers find a glimmer of within.
One motivation of my initial writing career was born out of some perceived necessity. You see, when I was in school, I hardly ever chose to read. I’m not sure why, except in hind sight, I believe it may have been due to my inability to find reading material to capture my interest. Weirdly enough, though, my mother is the most avid reader in the history of the universe. And to that end, when I was a teenager, she went out and purchased a used bookstore in my hometown of Oxford, Michigan. It was called The Thrifty Reader. In the interest of not disrupting her life, my mother ran her hours of operation according to her schedule: closed on Sundays, closed on Tuesdays (for her ladies’ bowling league in winter and golfing with the same ladies all summer) and hiring her daughter to run the store on Saturdays.
It was kinda boring.
So I read. The first book to catch my eye was a nice short romance book from a series publisher called Harlequin.
I was hooked.
Romance stories were my interest. Before long, however, I started judging the direction the author took the story, and I started considering how I would have done it differently.
Photo: Handwritten on steno pad; Typewritten on erasable paper; Typed and printed with Dot-matrix; Letter from Harlequin (circa 1985)
Becoming Carol Koman.
I started jotting down my ideas. I started writing. I wrote to Harlequin. I wanted to be published. Then, in 1998, my husband bought me my first computer with MS Word software and OH MY WORD!! Writing with a word processing program revolutionized my progress.
Long story shortened.
Yes, it took me nearly two decades to finally see three of my manuscripts become published novels, attributed to–and let me use John Lennon’s eloquently quoted lyrics, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” I did do it.
Go out there and write your story.
Romance Author 